Yankees lose ground, maybe Gleyber Torres in loss

With the AL East title drying out after being bathed in beer and champagne during Thursday night’s clubhouse celebration, the Yankees have another race to win: the best record in the American League.

Asked about finishing ahead of every other AL team — which would give the Yankees home-field advantage for however long they are alive in the ALDS or ALCS — Aaron Boone didn’t fall back on the Yankees’ initial division title in seven years.

“We want to win. So, it certainly gives us a lot to play for in the final days. These games are important and guys are aware of that,’’ Boone said before the Yankees hosted the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Friday night. “I am confident we will be ready to go with that urgency every day to the end.’’

Urgency wasn’t enough to overtake the Blue Jays, who hung a 4-3 loss on the Yankees in front of 45,270. The Yankees (100-55) are 9-8 against the 63-91 Blue Jays (63-91) this season and have lost five of the past eight to Toronto.

The defeat dropped them a game behind the Astros in the chase for the best record, depending on the outcome of the Angels-Astros game Friday evening in Houston. If the Astros and Yankees finish with identical records, the Astros get the home-field reward since they took four of seven games from the Yankees.

J.A. Happ limited the Blue Jays to two runs and four hits in 5 ¹/₃ innings. The Yankees got home runs from Aaron Judge and Tyler Wade (a two-run shot in the fifth for a 3-2 lead), but Gleyber Torres left the game at the start of the sixth after doing a split on the outfield grass while fielding a ground ball in the fourth.

Tommy Kahnle started the seventh with a 3-2 lead and struck out Randal Grichuk, but a walk to Teoscar Hernandez was followed by Justin Smoak’s homer to right-center that cleared the Yankees’ bullpen and put the Blue Jays ahead, 4-3.

Cameron Maybin started the eighth inning with a pinch-hit single, but was caught attempting to swipe second when LeMahieu swung through a 3-2 pitch for the first out.

Judge kept the inning alive with a line-drive double into the left-field corner and Didi Gregorius climbed out of a 1-2 hole to draw a walk that brought Gio Urshela, who entered the game in the top of the sixth, to the plate. He killed the scoring threat with a grounder to short.

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